West Valley Community Services

Disclaimer: This review is based solely on my experience as a donor. I hope they are better at interacting with clients than they are donors.
I had a bag of groceries that I wanted to donate to their food bank so I drove over to drop it off. My baby had fallen asleep in the car on the ride over but luckily I saw that the doors to the food pantry were open and that there was a blonde haired woman working right outside by the curb. I pull up to the curb (which I know is technically double parking, but I had the sleeping baby in the car and the woman was right there) so I could just hand off the bag of groceries real quick.
the woman turned her back when I stepped out of my car so I said «excuse me, mam?» and got no response. I said «excuse me» 2 – 3 more times, there was no one else around but me and her and she was literally less than 6 feet away from me. At this point it was beginning to get a little awkward, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and figured maybe she was just hard of hearing.
She finally turns around and I say «Hi! i have a bag of groceries to donate, can I just leave them with you?». She just says «you can’t park here, go park in one of the parking spaces over there». The ones she pointed to were far from the door and there was no way I could carry my sleeping baby and the groceries together. I told her «I have a sleeping baby in the car, can I just leave them here?» Mind you we are literally standing right at the food pantry with the doors to the pantry wide open. She could have easily taken the bag from me and brought it inside. Or she could have offered to follow me over to the parking spaces and take the bag from me there.
Instead she tells me «go put it by the front door» and turns and walks away. She did not thank me for the donation, ask if I needed a receipt, nothing. I certainly don’t expect someone to fall all over themselves thanking me, but some common courtesy would be nice. I have volunteered at similar community agencies and I would have NEVER treated a donor like that.
So I set the bag down outside by the front door and I waited in my car for a few minutes to see if that lady or any other employee was going to come to take it inside to the food pantry. After about 5 minutes I left and who knows how long that bag of food was left out there exposed to the elements and potential contamination.
From now on my family will be donating food to Sacred Heart Community Service. They have a drive up area for donors to drop off food that is always staffed with volunteers who will take the donations from your vehicle (which is very helpful for someone with a baby in the car or a disabled person) and best of all they are COURTEOUS.

It’s a shame there’s not more help for the working poor. I got my hopes up coming to this place only to be denied help and not offered other services that would help my situation. I’m aware that I’m not the only working single parent in the world struggling to make ends meet, but a little more compassion and understanding on how humiliating it is to ask for help would have been nice. What does one have to do to get help BEFORE actually becoming homeless or getting an eviction notice??? I’m trying to prevent that from happening, but can’t seem to get any assistance to catch up.

Community Services for those in need! WVCS offers great services to those who live in the areas they service, which include: Cupertino, West San Jose, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, and unincorporated Mountain Regions, but please check with them to see if your area code falls within their service area. They are able to provide services to homeless individuals and families and low income populations.
WVCS has a food pantry on site with great produce, meats, bread, and so much more. They have case management for those in need and people are able to see if they qualify for food pantry, one time housing/​rental assistance, special programs (provides baskets on holidays to families), after school programs for children, and so much more.
This non profit organization does great for it’s community.
Check it out to see if you qualify for their services!